Archaeological evaluation report : Cuerden Strategic Site, South Ribble, Lancashire

Lancashire County Council and Maple Grove Development Limited have obtained planning consent for a major mixed-use development at Cuerden, in the Central Lancashire borough of South Ribble. The study area extends to 65 hectares and comprises land to the south of the M65, to the west of A49 Wigan Road, and east of Stanifield Lane, near Cuerden in Lancashire (centred on NGR SD 55526 24603). The hybrid planning application (Planning Ref: 07/2017/0211/ORM) comprises a wide range of residential and commercial premises, car parks and roads, the construction of which is likely to cause damage to any surviving archaeological remains. The potential for archaeological remains to survive across the development site was highlighted in an archaeological assessment that was prepared to support the planning application. This concluded that intrusive site investigation to establish the presence or absence of archaeological remains was merited. In the light of this conclusion, Lancashire County Council commissioned Salford Archaeology to devise an execute an appropriate programme of archaeological investigation which, in the first instance, comprised the excavation of 15 evaluation trenches that aimed to establish the presence, extent and nature or any below-ground remains, to enable informed recommendations to be made for the future of any surviving features. The trenches were targeted on a medieval/post-medieval farmstead, and a range of cropmarks indicative of earlier field-systems and occupation, perhaps of prehistoric origin. In addition, the two putative routes of a Roman road between the fort at Wigan and the industrial settlement at Walton-le-Dale are projected along the western and eastern edges of the site, and these courses were targeted by evaluation trenches. The results obtained from the evaluation have demonstrated the survival of a suite of structural remains relating to the medieval/post-medieval farmstead, together with several negative features of post-medieval date. The trenching of known or suspected cropmarks also produced positive results. The presence of ditches and gullies attest to ancient field systems, which diverge from the existing pattern of field boundaries. Such features appear on the basis of their typology and stratigraphy to pre-date the medieval/post-medieval enclosures and, significantly, may potentially represent prehistoric activity or settlement in the area. It is not considered that any of these remains are of national importance that would necessitate preservation in-situ, although the features encountered during the evaluation are considered to be of high local/borough or regional significance, particularly those features of potential prehistoric origin. In order to offset the harm of development on the archaeological resource of the site, it would be appropriate to implement a further stage of intrusive archaeological excavation in advance of development

Evaluating the adaptive capacity of cultural landscapes to climate change: Incorporating site-specific knowledge in National Park Service vulnerability assessments

Cultural landscapes are complex systems of natural and cultural resources that are affected by changes in climatic and non-climatic factors. The National Park Service, Pacific West Region, has developed a vulnerability assessment (VA) model for identifying, evaluating, and responding to the effects of climate change to cultural landscapes by utilizing peer-reviewed data and local knowledge to inform management strategies that can reduce the vulnerability of cultural landscapes to deterioration and loss. Key to developing site-specific adaption plans is a VA based on analysis of the significance, exposure, and sensitivity of landscape characteristics and features, and identification of the management capacity to reduce the sensitivity of the cultural landscape to change. The resulting assessment compares the level of projected vulnerability of the landscape as a whole and of each characteristic or feature under evaluation, and the identification of methods for minimizing the sensitivity of the cultural landscape to climate change. This paper provides an overview of the VA model through case studies from the state of Washington, the territory of Guam, and Tinian, commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands

'Sarsen stones in Wessex': a society of antiquaries project contextualised and renewed

This paper reviews the Society of Antiquaries’ Evolution of the Landscape project, which started in 1974, and the project’s Sarsen Stones in Wessex survey. The survey was an ambitious public archaeology project, involving c 100 volunteers led by Fellows of the Society during the 1970s. Its aims, objectives and outcomes are described. The survey’s unique dataset, produced for the counties of Wiltshire, Hampshire and Dorset, has now been digitised. Drawing on the dataset, the paper situates the Evolution of the Landscape project in the context of later-twentieth century British archaeology. It demonstrates the importance not only of individual Fellows, but also contemporary movements in academic and development-led archaeology, to the direction of the Society’s activities in this formative period for the discipline today, and shows how the Society’s research was engaged with some of archaeology’s most pressing cultural resource management issue

Site Interiography and Geophysical Scanning: Interpreting the Texture and Form of Archaeological Deposits with Ground-Penetrating Radar

The remarkable potential of geophysical scanning—to assess the internal variability of sites in new ways, to highlight important phenomena in the field, to exercise co-creation of interpretation and commitment to minimal destruction of community partners’ resources, and to aid in the practice of due diligence in avoiding desecration of the sacred—continues to be underutilized in archaeology. While archaeological artifacts, features, and strata remain primary foci of archaeological geophysics, these phenomena are perceived quite differently in scans than in visual or tactile exposures. In turn, new registers of site exploration afforded by geophysical prospection may be constrained by the language of site excavation and visual observation, requiring adjustments in the ways of thinking about and describing what the instruments are measuring. The texture and form of site deposits as rendered in ground-penetrating radar scans can be examined in detail prior to making interpretations of cultural features or stratigraphy. Far more than simple “anomalies” demanding our attention for excavation, patterns in geophysical data can be the focus of extensive archaeological analysis prior to, in conjunction with, or independent from excavation

A critical analysis of the international standards for research and conservation of pleistocene sites: the future of the global heritage of human evolution

On the basis of a critical revision of the application of the criteria that justify the Outstanding Universal Value over time, this work discusses and identifies the need for a specific chapter in 2the Operational Guidelines of the Convention related to Pleistocene sites and properties related to non-sedentary populations. The International community at UNESCO, guided by the most advanced research and conservation knowledge, should set up specific rules and categories for inscription and standards for the integrated preservation of Pleistocene sites. These pages illustrate how to channel the process to pass from Pleistocene knowledge to a Pleistocene heritage, and how to avoid the useless distinction between the arrays of heritages: immovable, movable, intangible, documentary or molecular when defining the very nature of a site related to our early past as humans. Finally, my dissertation invites the research and conservation communities to merge practices and to set up a collaborative dialogue in the interest of our long-term cultural evolution. This dissertation conceives the origins of our remotest cultural diversity as a human capital, which can guide our species on its journey through the enormous challenges toward climate change and artificial intelligence

Disrupting the dissertation: linked data, enhanced publication and algorithmic culture

This article explores how the three aspects of Striphas’ notion of algorithmic culture (information, crowds and algorithms) might influence and potentially disrupt established educational practices.  We draw on our experience of introducing semantic web and linked data technologies into higher education settings, focussing on extended student writing activities such as dissertations and projects, and drawing in particular on our experiences related to undergraduate archaeology dissertations. The potential for linked data to be incorporated into electronic texts, including academic publications, has already been described, but these accounts have highlighted opportunities to enhance research integrity and interactivity, rather than considering their potential creatively to disrupt existing academic practices. We discuss how the changing relationships between subject content and practices, teachers, learners and wider publics both in this particular algorithmic culture, and more generally, offer new opportunities; but also how the unpredictability of crowds, the variable nature and quality of data, and the often hidden power of algorithms, introduce new pedagogical challenges and opportunities

Usability evaluation of a virtual museum interface

The Augmented Representation of Cultural Objects (ARCO) system provides software and interface tools to museum curators to develop virtual museum exhibitions, as well as a virtual environment for museum visitors over the World Wide Web or in informative kiosks. The main purpose of the system is to offer an enhanced educative and entertaining experience to virtual museum visitors. In order to assess the usability of the system, two approaches have been employed: a questionnaire based survey and a Cognitive Walkthrough session. Both approaches employed expert evaluators, such as domain experts and usability experts. The result of this study shows a fair performance of the followed approach, as regards the consumed time, financial and other resources, as a great deal of usability problems has been uncovered and many aspects of the system have been investigated. The knowledge gathered aims at creating a conceptual framework for diagnose usability problems in systems in the area of Virtual Cultural Heritage

The Silk Roads: A case study in serial transboundary protection and management of cultural heritage

In recent years nominations for UNESCO World Heritage status have started to utilise the concepts of cultural routes and cultural landscapes to justify and articulate inscription; increasingly used the approach of serial properties (multiple components linked by a theme); and embarked upon more ambitious transnational nomination projects, requiring international cooperation and coordinated management between nations. This thesis explores the successful 2014 Silk Roads serial transnational nomination, inscribed by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, to examine both the theory and practise of nomination and subsequent management. Fifteen component sites were analysed in detail, through a combination of literature reviews (published and unpublished material) and fieldwork (including observational studies and semi-structured interviews with heritage professionals, at different levels, within the three countries), to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the current approaches, and the extent to which the nominated property satisfies the aspirations of the participants. On the positive side, there have been some significant advances in using the nomination to develop capacity building. However, the research exposed significant issues with the dialogue between participating countries, their lack of a shared understanding of the property (between but also within countries), and the differing agendas of the State Parties. The research also raised questions regarding tensions between local values and engagement in the process, and the state-led initiatives. The most extreme case was at Talgar in Kazakhstan, but the trend is more widespread. The complexity of a serial property, in terms of the stakeholders, social environments, and multi-sector participation in the management processes, means that coordinating management needs to pay much more attention to the collaboration between the partners, and between the partners and communities. The outcome of the research is that UNESCO and State Parties need consider, on a practical level, how benefits of serial and transnational projects should be achieved. This needs to understand what the scope of coordinated (as opposed to state-based) management should be, how the process will improve conservation and management, and how a broader serial transnational project benefits interpretation and access. It is suggested that UNESCO, ICOMOS, and intergovernmental bodies, need to take a stronger role in this process at the inception of the nomination process, and provide effective support in networking, education, training, and information sharing